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Manga ESB, #4 of 4 - "It's a trap!"

The part you've been waiting for. Lots of double-page spreads and spoilers for 30 year old movie behind the cut.

As shown on the cover, Han gets turned into a slab of frozen torment that will soon become Jabba's new favorite wall ornament. Black on almost-black doesn't scan well at all, however, so I'll just skip ahead to this bit.

Luke catches sight of Fett carting away his bounty, but Artoo accidentally gives away his position. They exchange fire, and then Luke runs into the others.

Leia tries to warn him that it's a trap, but he gets cut off by closing doors and herded into the carbon freezing chamber, a technological echo of the dark, dank cave from before. And again, Vader is waiting for him.

Note how Vader lets Luke draw on him first, and seems almost calm when he ignites his own saber.

The guns in the last panel are those of Lando's private guards, who take the stormtroopers prisoner and free Leia and Chewbacca. The Wookiee nearly strangles him before he manages to convince them there's still a chance to save Han.

Things don't go so well for Luke, and he's soon right where Vader wants him.

But a quick Force-assisted leap into the "rafters" and...

Vader still thinks that Obi-Wan was Luke's only teacher; he doesn't know the boy's also been to see Yoda, or that the latter is even still alive. Would it have made a difference?

The main levels of Cloud City are bedlam, as Lando has informed the citizens that the Empire is taking control, and few of them have much love for it:

The duel continues into the bowels and maintenance passages of the city, and Vader eventually gains the upper hand... so to speak.

Wow. That's a LOT of blood. (And one of the more obvious examples of art-mirroring; that should be his right hand.)

With his opponent disarmed (heh) and backed into a corner, Vader turns up the pressure.

And yet, with his whole world shattered, Luke somehow manages to find a moment of serenity and realizes what he must do. The path of the Jedi is often one of sacrifice...

... and sometimes it leads right over a cliff.

But the Force isn't done with young Skywalker, and he gets a temporary reprieve, ending up clinging to a weather vane on the underside of the city. He calls weakly to Ben, then to Leia - remember, they aren't blood relations "yet" - and she has Lando turn the Falcon around just in time.

Vader's star destroyer closes in for the kill. He calls out to his son, who is too weak to resist him any longer... all hope seems lost. But then, like many times before, the day is saved by one humble astromech droid. (The only one, according to some fan theories, who knows the whole story, having never been memory-wiped.)

Lost in his own thoughts, Death sweeps silently past Piett (who, one imagines, promptly soils his trousers).

By the time our heroes finally rendezvous with the Rebel fleet, it's all over except for the sequel hook. Luke gets a new hand (better, stronger, faster) and Lando "borrows" one of Han's shirts (I hope Chewie gave him a dirty look) while they go after him. And...

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